UW Crews Advance On Day One At IRAs

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Washington men's rowing team had all four crews advance to semifinals or finals Friday, on the first day of the 2022 Intercollegiate Rowing Association's national Championship Regatta.
 
Washington's varsity eight, second varsity eight and third varsity eight each finished in the top two in their heats, earning a direct path to Saturday's A/B semifinals, where the top three in each of two semis in each race category will advance to the grand final Sunday on Mercer Lake.
 
The varsity eight won its heat, while the second and third eights each finished comfortably in second place.
 
Additionally, the UW varsity four raced in a time trial, which provided seeds for the semifinals in that race category, and then won that semifinal in the afternoon, earning a place in the IRA grand final Saturday morning.
 
Washington opened its morning with its heat in the varsity eight. Seeded No. 5 and racing alongside No. 4 seed Dartmouth, the Huskies provided the only "upset" of the four V8+ heats, in terms of the top-two finishers, each of whom moved directly through to A/B semifinals on Saturday.
 
The Huskies grabbed the lead from the start, moving out to a two-seat advantage over the Big Green by 500 meters and then stretching it out over the remainder of the racecourse.
 
Washington won its varsity eight heat with a time of 5:37.896, with a few feet of open water back to Dartmouth at the finish line. The Big Green crossed in 5:41.574. The top-two seeds from each of the other three heats all advanced, in seed order: California and Syracuse from heat one; Yale and Harvard from heat two; and Brown and Princeton from heat three.
 
The Huskies had the highest-seeded crew in their second varsity eight heat, ahead of Harvard. Those two moved quickly well in front of the rest of the field, with the Huskies leading the way past the 500-meter buoy. However, in the second 500, the Crimson made a move to go to lead, rowing through the UW crew at about 750 meters. 
 
Harvard led the rest of the way and won by about seven seats, with a time of 5:45.589, to Washington's 5:47.957. Those two were well clear of third place and moved comfortably through to the Saturday's A/B semifinals.
 
Washington finished second in its third varsity eight as well, nonetheless comfortably advancing to the semifinals. Dartmouth led that heat from wire-to-wire, finishing a length ahead of the Huskies with a time of 5:51.492. The Huskies' time of 5:54.706 was more than four-and-a-half seconds ahead of third-place Princeton.
 
Six teams finished the morning heats with all three crews advancing directly to the A/B semifinals. Washington was joined in that distinction by Cal, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown.
 
The format for the varsity four race was different than the eights, as the 25 entries held a time trial to gain entry into the semifinals, which were also held Friday.
 
Washington's four finished the 2,000 meters in 6:11.371, the fourth-best time, which placed the Huskies in the third of three A/B/C semis, the top two from which would proceed to Saturday's grand final.
 
In the afternoon, that same UW varsity 4+ won its semifinal, coming from behind to not only advance to the grand final, but as the winner.
 
At the start of the race, Holy Cross took the lead, with Georgetown in second and the UW in third. By 1,000 meters, the Hoyas had moved into the lead, with an open-water edge over Washington. In the third 500, the Huskies moved past Holy Cross into second place and, in the final portion of the race, the UW moved in front, winning by four seats.
 
The Huskies' time was 6:21.243, about two seconds ahead of second-place Georgetown 6:23.349. Brown finished third.
 
Saturday, Washington will race in A/B semifinals in all three eights categories, with the top three of six in each of those moving on to Sunday grand finals. The UW varsity four will race in its grand final Saturday, with Princeton, Dartmouth, FIT, Harvard and Georgetown rounding out the field for that race. 
 
Here are the schedule and lane assignments for Saturday:
 
5:40 a.m. PT – Varsity Eight A/B Semifinal #1
Lanes 2-7: Northeastern, Harvard, California, Washington, Princeton, Navy
 
6:10 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight A/B Semifinal #2
Lanes 2-7: Cornell, Washington, Dartmouth, Yale, Syracuse, Drexel
 
6:20 a.m. PT – Third Varsity Eight A/B Semifinal #1
Lanes 2-7: Penn, Washington, Yale, California, Princeton, Navy
 
8:20 a.m. PT – Varsity Four Grand Final
Entries (lanes TBD): Princeton, FIT, Washington, Dartmouth, Harvard, Georgetown
 
Saturday Live Video Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v10oFBH22V4
 
Washington Lineups
 
Varsity Eight
Cox: Zach Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor)
Stroke: Steve Rosts (Jordan, Ont., Canada)
7: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
6: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, The Netherlands)
5: Simon van Dorp  (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
4: Jack Walkey (Victoria, B.C., Canada)
3: Logan Ullrich (Auckland, New Zealand)
2: Blake Bradshaw (Auckland, New Zealand)
Bow: Darcy McCluskey (Brisbane, Australia)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Robert Pluijmert (Dieren, The Netherlands)
7: Sebastian Ritter (Regensburg, Germany)
6: Adam Krol (Toronto, Ont., Canada)
5: Pablo Matan (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Prep)
4: Nils Vorberg (Hamburg, Germany)
3: Max Heid (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep)
2: Max Mason (Redmond, Wash./Redmond)
Bow: Giulio Acernese (Rome, Italy)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Cox: Max Schwartzkopff (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Stroke: Gus Altucher (Portland, Ore./Cleveland)
7: Ethan Blight (Auckland, New Zealand)
6: Chase Barrows (Snohomish, Wash./Archbishop Murphy)
5: Jack Premzic (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior)
4: Marius Ahlsand (Oslo, Norway)
3: Harry Fitzpatrick (Auckland, New Zealand)
2: Quinn Hall (Chester Springs, Pa./Malvern Prep)
Bow: Colin Kwiecinski (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
 
Varsity Four
Stroke: Blake Vogel (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic)
3: Abe Eligator (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck)
2: Parker Raines (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline)
Bow: Luke Henry (Bellevue, Wash./Singapore American) 
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
 
Spares
Archie Drummond (Twickenham, London, U.K.)
Michael Thiers (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt)